GOP's 'Pledge' Guru Was Lobbyist

Hypocrite alert: One of the leading men behind Republicans’ “Pledge to America” document, centered on bringing back the country’s founding ideals, is a lobbyist with expansive ties to some of the biggest corporations in the country. A draft of the document, officially unveiled Thursday, shows Brian Wild as the author. Wild, it turns out, was paid $740,000 to lobby for insurance giant AIG during his five years at the lobbying firm Nickles Group. He also accepted more than $1 million from Comcast, $1.3 million from ExxonMobil, and $625,000 from Pfizer. Prior to that, he served as a legislative aide to Rep. Pat Toomey and an assistant to Vice President Dick Cheney. Republicans deny the connection, saying Wild played only an administrative role in the pledge, helping “to keep the trains running between all the leadership offices.”